Speech #1090131902

President. I rise in strong support of the Isakson amendment and am proud to be a cosponsor. The American people have heard Senators from both sides of the aisle and across the political spectrum come down to the floor of the Senate to talk about the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act and how it did not solve the problem of illegal immigration. This was the first attempt by Congress to address the issue of illegalimmigration in a comprehensive way. The Immigration Reform and Control Act was the product of a number of compromises. the main one being legalizing the illegal population in exchange for stronger enforcement of our immigration laws both at the border and inside the country. However. we all know now that the 1986 legislation. which closely mirrors S. 2611. did not work and. in fact. invited further illegal immigration. resulting in the critical situation we face regarding illegal immigration today. As the Senate considers S. 2611 we are operating under the assumption that there are around 11 million illegal immigrants who will take advantage of an amnesty. But the fact is that we simply do not know how many illegal immigrants are in the U.S. some venture to guess that there are 20 million or more. However. once again we find that many in the Senate are willing to make the same compromise that was made in 1986: legalize an unlimited amount of illegal aliens in exchange for increasing border security. interior enforcement. and worksite enforcement. I personally do not agree with this approach. I do not believe that we should provide illegal immigrants with a new path to citizenship through this bill or any bill. I do not think it is the right way to address the presence of a large number of illegal immigrants. While I do not believe in providing a new path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. the Judiciary Committee disagreed. As a result. the Senate is now considering a bill that will provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. If we are willing to travel down the same path that proved not to work before. shouldnt we ask ourselves what didnt work with the 1986 amnesty that will work today? What has changed? I think one of the main problems with the 1986 amnesty bill was that it ended up being one sidedthe government adjusted the status of millions of illegal immigrants but the promise of greater border security. interior enforcement. and worksite enforcement never materialized. That is why Senator ISAKSONS amendment is so critical. It says that we cannot implement any program to grant legal status to an illegal immigrant provided in this bill until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies in writing to the President and to Congress that the border security measures in this bill are complete and operational. This is a very simple amendment. I do not see how any Senator who is serious about border security and enforcing our immigration laws can disagree with Senator lSAKSONs amendment. It is that we ensure. before we take the same path we did in 1986. a path I disagree with. that we remedy one of the fatal flaws of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Disagreeing with this amendment sends the. message to the American people that we are more eager to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship than we are to secure our borders from further illegal immigration and the smuggling of illegal drugs and weapons. I know that is not the message my constituents in Georgia want to hear. Regardless of where Georgians stand on dealing with the current illegal population. the constant refrain I hear from folks back home is: secure the border. If we do not secure the border and have serious interior and worksite enforcement. then we have accomplished nothing. The American people demand no more and deserve no less. I am proud to cosponsor this critical amendment. which will show the American people that providing an amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants is not more important than securing our borders. I urge my colleagues to support the Isakson amendment.